Emergency Custody Order by Jen Rouse

What if we issue one
for our planet—perhaps—
like taking on hemispheres
of an ill brain—
ok, maybe you think
no one’s going to commit
to that completely.
In time.
You see, like
wild rollercoaster
tunnels and tight
synapses, the channels
of our disaster
require very special
specialists. Some things tiny
as snails
sewing and sifting
and making small repairs.
How we must place
the order at night
in an alley
where the matter
of mind and space
meet and turn aurora,
across the bay
where the lull of loon
cry echoes the moment
: archive and listen.
I am your frozen myelin orbit.
I am your hollowed earth skull.
Jen Rouse (she/her) is the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Cornell College. Her work has appeared in SWWIM, Pithead Chapel, Cleaver, Always Crashing, Mississippi Review, and elsewhere. Headmistress Press has published her books Acid and Tender, CAKE, and Riding with Anne Sexton. Find her on Twitter @jrouse